As war toll grows, strains on Army get heavier and outlook looks grimmer

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/007/wash/As_war_toll_grows_strains_on_A:.shtml

WASHINGTON (AP) The strain of fighting a counter-insurgency war in Iraq, on a scale not foreseen even a year ago and with no end in sight, is taking a startling toll on the American military.

The U.S. death count is rising at least 1,350 in all, rising by 70 or more each month.

Costs are escalating more than $1 billion a week, with the total now exceeding $100 billion.

And while Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a chief architect of the war, remains focused on his exit strategy training Iraqis to provide their own defense, enabling U.S. troops to begin leaving even he has recently used the term ''bleak'' to describe the situation.

Rumsfeld says he remains convinced that the only way out is to exercise patience and fortitude while a reliable Iraqi security force is developed. And U.S. military commanders in Iraq make almost daily pronouncements of optimism that the tide is beginning to turn against the insurgents.

more

[MichiganVote]

1. Full of shit that's what they are. Every last damn member of this admin.

[yorkiemommie1]

31. every damn one of them ...

should get over there and join the forces they so cheerfully sent over there. every Bush voter should get the he** over there too.

[MichiganVote]

54. At least we'd know for sure why we lost the war

[rocktivity]

2. Candidate for this month's "You Call This NEWS?" Award

The Bush regime was told in no uncertain terms that this would be their fate if they invaded Iraq under the prevailing circumstances.

:headbang:
rocknation

[prodigal_green]

3. Heard on Morning Sedition this morning

Hackworth a/k/a Hack.

Ex-military, really critical of the war and the civilian heads. Check out his site:

http://www.hackworth.com

[RamboLiberal]

6. Hackworth used to be the darling of the RW pundits

But since he's been honest in criticizing the idiots at the Pentagon I don't think he's been invited to their shows.

[saigon68]

19. That's because Hackworth like me -- is tired of this shit (graphic)

Hardly a day goes by without more of this--- Mostly hidden by Faux and the rest of the Goebbels NeoCon Media





BODY OF US SOLDIER REMOVED FROM DESTOYED HUMVEE




CASUALTY WHOSE LEGS WERE BLOWN OFF.




Sunday, January 02, 2005

IRAQ: Texas, USA:-Pfc. AMANDA MOHON suffered a shrapnel wound in the leg and burns to her face and hands. She was a survivor of the Dec. 21 attack on a U.S. base near Mosul, Iraq.
Photographer: Man Hui
Agency: San Antonio Express / ZUMA

[mediaman007]

4. What gets me is

that with all of the screw ups that this group has made, they continue to get respect from the press and half of the public. Does anyone have the guts to say that the emperor has no clothes?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

5. "I was wrong" is a dirty word in this country.

The common man needs someone to blame other than himself.

[The Zanti Regent]

28. NO

My only child was one of those killed.

Until the M$M (thank you James Wolcott for coming up with that term for the Main $tream Media) is personally hurting the way I am, look for them to continue to flaunt the brown lipstick every chance they can!

Never have I seen a dictator have the press constantly suck him off like they do to President Asshole. And they flaunt it. Wolf Blitzer flaunts the brown lipstick he wears and Tim Russert treats it like a badge of honor.

[leesa]

36. I can't even imagine the fury you must have towards these murderers

[Bo]

43. I am so sorry for your loss

[marew]

49. I am so very sorry for your loss.

I'm sure words cannot express the depth of your sadness. I wish you comfort and strength.

[peacebird]

52. oh Zanti - i am so sorry to hear about your child.

i cannot begin to imagine your feelings. i would be devastated and furious.

i recognize that i am extremely fortunate because my only child failed a whiz-quiz after almost 3 years in service and as a result he was immediately booted out of the military just over a year ago.

praise be the "one strike and you're out" drug policy.

[recovering democrat]

53. My sympathy to you, my anger to the M$M

My sympathy for your loss. My only child will likely be sent to Iraq in this disaster sometime this year (unless this country comes to its senses, and I have no confidence that it will!), and I can to some limited extent understand the anger you must feel and I share it sincerely.

I get to sleep sometimes only because I can read the posts of people on this site who speak the truth and share this anger, when I just get madder with the M$M accounts of the "war".

And hadn't seen it before, but totally appreciate the term "M$M" and will use it always because it is SOOOO accurate!

[NMDemDist2]

7. all this for a fake war... criminal and heartbreaking n/t

[bluestateguy]

8. Oh good, I get to say "I TOLD YOU SO" again.

The American people are learning their lesson now...

[yorkiemommie1]

35. 'I / we told you so' should be a bumpersticker

i say it all the time. (Listening to Peter, Paul and Mary- coincidentally, Where Have all the Flowers Gone, came on just as i clicked on this thread.

I'm sure the song would get no airplay in this neocon climate.

omg. now PPM are singing 'where have all the soldiers gone'....

now i am crying. the first time ever since this horror started.


when will they ever learn??????

[anarchy1999]

44. Okay, but don't you hate saying it? I know I do.

I HATE IT, I Avoid saying "WE TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN". Robert Fisk warned us, as did many others. Jesus, the whole world walked on Feb 15, 2003. We shook the world and "they" didn't listen. The criminals are in charge, the fox is guarding the henhouse and the insane are running the asylum.

[katinmn]

9. after a while they'll just get tired of dying

wear themselves down.

Isn't that what Rummy said?

[DELUSIONAL]

10. I am damned glad I don't have kids

and I have sympathy for my Liberal and Progressive friends who have children --- but NO sympathy for anyone who voted for bush.

If my husband's bush loving cousin's son dies in Iraq -- that isn't my problem. Just a sacrifice for king george.

Yes we TOLD THEM SO.

[DemoTex]

11. Thanks Don ...

I don't know how you do it, friend. Day after day.

Mac

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. Thus the bush speech today - "sure it's hard, but it's only 4 provinces!"

Trouble for chimp is those 4 provinces make up half the population of Iraq. He felt the need to toss in that good ol' boy duplicity - he is a legend for tossing those in.

[cliss]

13. Yes, it is sad that the troops are

tired and demoralized. They certainly can't feel good about making any "progress" because things are getting worse. This latest attack took my breath away (see LBN: 9 Soldiers killed). Either the insurgents are getting better at this, or we are getting careless. It was amazing to read that a heavily reinforced Bradley vehicle was blown away.

But even more amazing is the financial figure in this article: "Costs are escalating more than $1 billion per week". Now notice the next figure, $100 billion. Now recall how we've read that the war is costing $4.9 billion per week. Total spent so far wavers around $100 billion to as much as $270 billion.

Reason? We don't know how much it's costing. It's very clear to me when the numbers move around this much. They're not telling us. They may not even know.

Either way, THIS is what's going to call an early end to the war in Iraq, whether they are ready to finish or not. It's simply MONEY. Or the lack thereof. I've posted many times that this is the only thing that will stop RumsFailed and the others.

We can't keep doing this forever.

[teryang]

17. The accounting figures are totally falsified

They control the justice department and the legislature. The banking system is complicit in the corruption.

Total power has been secured for an indefinite period in a way that most Americans don't have the historical perspective to understand. This is a free for all for the taxpayers and consumers money. The standard of living in the country is taking a nosedive.

[Leilani]

14. How sad & tragic

I don't know how these people sleep at night.

And I also blame the Dems who voted Aye & enabled this disaster.

[FlemingsGhost]

15. Fear not, we got Jesus on our side. Right?

He's like ... what, Rambo, RoboCop and Godzilla all rolled up into one holy ass-kicker? Or so I've heard.

Go git 'em, Savior. Use your Napsalm

[Erika]

16. Freepers think we should now attack

Iran, Syria, and North Korea.

I try not to watch these people too often because of their total lack of reality frustrates me totally. They rant on about how we should institute regime change in these countries without any realization our kids are stretched to the max as is. They are freeping idiots.

[leesa]

37. Not to mention that it would be just as successful as it has been in Iraq

The armchair warrioirs of the cowardly right wing.

[leftchick]

18. That Broken Back of the Insurgency sure healed quickly...

Lucky for bush* americans have a very short attention span. I doubt they remember that little gem and are now left with Iraq being... "hard work".


~snip~

Despite a successful offensive in November against the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, the rebels remain capable of killing U.S. troops and Iraqi police and soldiers in Baghdad, Mosul and elsewhere almost daily. A roadside bomb killed seven U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Thursday. On Friday, a police captain was killed in a drive-by shooting in Abu Ghraib west of Baghdad, and gunmen shot to death a policeman walking near his house in Mosul.

A U.S. military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Erv Lessel, said Friday the worst may be yet to come. ''I think a worst case is where they have a series of horrific attacks that cause mass casualties in some spectacular fashion in the days leading up to the elections,'' Lessel said. ''A year ago you didn't see these kinds of horrific things.''

[saigon68]

20. Morning LC

This is going to be a very bad week-end

[leftchick]

24. morning to you saigon....

it will be indeed. For once a military commander had it right. "Spectaular Attacks" are ahead.

:(

[saigon68]

26. Well we're here to post whatever outrage is perpetrated by the

"infidels"

Most of the masses are about to be hypnotized and mesmerized by FOOTBALL. one of the games is only a few miles from me tomorrow. I for one will NOT be attending.

I will be praying for my foolish nephew who is about to go back to IRAQ-NAM for his SECOND TOUR with the 3rd Infantry Division.



On Edit: Yikes spelling

[SodoffBush]

21. One billion A WEEK??

I thought one billion a month was off the sanity scale.

[saigon68]

22. ITs $6,000,000,000.00 (Billion) A month and climbing

Could feed some hungry children in the Ghetto for that money.

[Redstone]

27. Hey, Saigon68

I've enjoyed reading your posts overall, but you really got me with this one: "Could feed some hungry children in the Ghetto for that money."

That's a point that I keep haranguing people about, but that few people overall seem to know or care about. We are the richest country in the world, and there is absolutely no excuse for even one child to be hungry, anywhere in America!

The first thing I always think of whenever I see the government pissing away money on not only this stupid, evil war, but also all the other frivolous, wasteful "programs" is this: How many kids would that money feed, for how long?"

Thanks for raising the issue.

Redstone

An Loc '72 (Civilian, so no ribbons.)

[leesa]

38. Actually, we aren't rich at all. We have massive debt.

Our "wealth" is an illusion that is about to be dispelled in a grand manner.

[saigon68]

41. Some seniors could get their houses heated

And a few prescription drugs to quell their pain.

[Barkley]

34. 14 hours of Iraq spending could save South Cen. L.A. Hospital

That amounts to about $100 million for King/ Drew Hospital.

Money can't solve all of its problems but it would sure go
a long way in providing essential health care for the area's
residents.

The next closest hospital is about 15 miles away -- County/ USC.
That might not seem of long distance but when you factor in the
traffic even with sirens it could take at least 30 mins.

Food is not the direct economic problem of the ghetto, its jobs.

[saigon68]

40. Food would be helpful tho-- while the Hospital is fixed

The Chimpanzee has no intention to provide "GOOD CIVILIAN JOBS FOR THE BLACK MAN" or any man or Woman of Color in general.

Only a few Uncle Tom's like COLON BOWEL will get a shake from the evil bastard.

No the Black man will be CANNON FODDER in the new pnac war.

I've seen it before. When AWOL was using Coke and Smoking Dope-- The Black Man was dying by the THOUSANDS in Viet-Nam.

[Barkley]

47. Jobs would be best !

White people in Brentwood aren't in want of food not because of welfare but because they have jobs and income.

Jobs would go a long way in addressing some many ancillatory issues like crime, drugs etc.

Of course food and jobs are not mutually exclusive.

Actually, food in some cases (e.g. fast-food) might be oversupplied in the ghetto:

Medical Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that predominantly black neighborhoods had 2.4 fast food restaurants per square mile, while white neighborhoods only had 1.5 restaurants per square mile. Higher income and white neighborhoods have more supermarkets than poor and black neighborhoods, which tend to be served by smaller grocery or convenience-type stores. This research also shows that supermarkets offer more healthy foods than grocery and convenience stores.

[Coventina]

23. NOT FORESEEN?!?!?!?!

Boy, they have SOME NERVE to say that!

*I* forsaw it! And I don't claim to have special psychic gifts or anything. It was plain common sense. Something Bushco apparently DOES NOT HAVE!
:mad:

[Earth_First]

25. "...with no end in sight."

There is no end. period. It's part of the pnac mission statement.

[Captain Kronos]

29. Operation Iraqi Misadventure

It should be obvious to anyone with even the most basic understanding of military history* that "Operation Iraqi Misadventure" is doomed to fail. We're approaching the two year anniversary of the toppling of Saddam's statue... and even with 150,000 troops in country, complete mastery of the air and the use of unprecedented surveillance technology, American forces are unable to secure a 10-mile stretch of highway linking Baghdad with its airport.

Game over. And with nothing to show for it but the blood dripping from the collective hands of the Bush administration.

BTW, this is my first post. ;)


*Freepers watching The History Channel in their underwear.

[LibDemAlways]

30. Welcome to DU and thanks for

the laugh. Not a pretty sight.

This thing was doomed from the beginning. What made these assholes think they could barge into a country - any country - but most especially a Middle East country with thousands of years of experience fighting off invaders - and be welcomed with anything other than one hell of a bloodbath?

[leesa]

39. Very succinct...freepers in underwear..yuck! Welcome.

[hnsez]

32. !The perfect solution to the Iraq Mess!

Start a war with Iran, Syria, or North Korea to get people's attention diverted from the War in Iraq!

IMHO This makes perfect sense to any Chimp

/edit Iran and Syria would be a bad idea since they are next to Iraq and would not be as effective a distration as North Korea.



NORTH KOREA IT IS!

[Deja Q]

33. 4 more years!

Boy, it's a shame that more people didn't think BEFORE the election. :grr:

[anarchy1999]

42. IMHO, the tide is running in the opposite direction of Rumsfeld's wishes.

n/t

[pdxmom]

45. I'm afraid that...

This is the beginning of the set up for justification for reinstating the draft. This administration has proven that they are very adept at keeping the negative away from the public, but the news out there about our troop levels, the inability to handle the insurgency, etc., almost seems like they're pushing this information out into the public domain.

I have a 19 year old and a 16 year old. And I have no trust in any "promise" that was made by these people not to bring back the draft.

[Tight_rope]

46. Well! Hot Damn...I've been waiting for them to say this since...

November of 2003 when the real fighting started. I told many before they started the war that more people would die after the war then during the war. And of course many came back and said I must be a witch for having predicted that it would happen the way it did.

[Greybnk48]

48. check this out

At the website TBRNews.org under the header Voice of the White House.

I don't know how reliable this is but the anonymous author claims that the numbers out of Iraq are wildly low and that the DOD is making sure of it.

He says at least 4000 soldiers/marines dead; more than 17,000 wounded and of those at least 8,000 crippled for life.

Any way to verify this?

[yorkiemommie1]

50. my freeper husband just came in to show me pix of the

devastation in SE Asia and i MADE him look at the pix of these soldiers. i hope the images stick w/ him. on 11/2 i showed him the list of U.S. dead and told him that those folks would be in the voting booth w/ him. made no difference.

[goforit]

51. Somehow the military needs to step outside the box & THINK!!!!!!

This is a huge disability for them!!!

Go back to square one and ask........

Why are we here.....and ....

for whom and what motive!!!

SCREW all those "unelected" politicians in Washington (and believe me this may be 3/4 of them all)!!!

[marew]

55. Unfriggingbelievable!!! Please Read!

Paul Krugman has a wonderful column in yesterday's New York Times titled "Worse Than Fiction." In it he says "The Nelson Report, a respected newsletter, reports that Mr. Bush has made it clear to his subordinates that he doesn't want to hear bad news about Iraq." Incomprehensible!!! We will never survive four more years of this monster. People are dying and their lives and bodies are being destroyed and he doesn't want to hear about it? How are the soldiers supposed to take that? This freak gets worse and worse! I feel like we are stuck in a horrible nightmare and can't wake up.